Tags: Life. Philosophy.
Often the best things in this life, the things that make a difference to ourselves and to each other in a positive, uplifting way go against the status quo. Or at least, are not as usual as they ought to be.
For example: smiling at strangers, breaking out in dance, writing letters or playing like children. And something that I LOVE to do, but honestly see very little of it being done between people, is encouragement! I do not know why, when it is so powerful and beautiful, that we don’t encourage each other more often.
One of the scariest things you can do is be thrown into a new environment with unfamiliar people and systems. Like, starting a new job or starting school. There’s pressure to perform as well as the thought of, “Am I going to make friends and be accepted?”. But you know what is the perfect antidote to nerves and fears? Encouragement! From others and from yourself. A few simple words strung together and filled with sincerity can do wonders for the self-esteem.
It just doesn’t take much at all to say: “You’re doing a good job”, “Keep going”, “That’s it! You’ve got it!” So, so simple but powerful. I think one of the reasons that we don’t encourage each other is because we actually have low self-esteem ourselves, either that or we have really big egos; it’s one or the other! We don’t give kind words because we haven’t received kind words. Or, we just feel it’s too much effort.
This is a wrong approach. Start giving cheerfully with excited expectation that your words will be helpful to others and goodness will fill your life from every corner. And don’t choose who you give encouragement to for one person over another in a biased way. Do it equally for all people (unless it’s encouraging them to do something wrong).
You never know, that one person that you helped when no one noticed could, in the future, help you in an unexpected way. Imagine, if you had to wear all the words that came out of your mouth, would your attire be attractive or repulsive? Think about it. Eventually, we do wear our words through our deeds and other people’s deeds done back to us. Don’t just blurt out anything, choose your words wisely because they have the power to bring people to strength and health, including our own, “self-talk”.
An encouragement is the predecessor of a compliment and can make someone feel just as good. So try it today for instant warm and fuzzies.
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